HFSF successfully concludes NBG disinvestment, in heavily oversubscribed offering

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) has successfully completed the offering of 10% of its stake in the National Bank of Greece share capital, with its stake now down to 8.39% from 40.4% before the start of disinvestment, the HFSF announced on Thursday.

According to the announcement, the public offering attracted notable interest from both Greek and foreign investors, with total demand reaching 7.2 billion euros and the total value of the transaction approaching 0.7 billion euros.

HFSF Board President Andreas Verykios expressed satisfaction with the successful offering, saying it marked the conclusion of the Fund’s cycle of deinvestment from the systemic banks, succeeding in its goal of preserving fiscal stability and returning banks to the private economy.

Achieving these goals was a strong legacy for the country’s banking system and the momentum of the economy, he added. HFSF CEO Ilias Xirouhakis highlighted the fact that the offering was greatly oversubscribed amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and strong geopolitical tensions, as well as volatility in the international markets. He noted that the coverage had exceeded the previous disinvestment of Piraeus Bank, which had been the most successful offering of a financial institution through public auction on a European level.

He said that this reflected the markets’ full confidence in the favourable prospects of the Greek financial system and the steady dynamic prospects of the Greek economy.

Xirouhakis concluded by saying that National Bank of Greece now acquired new prospects after the second part of the disinvestment and multiple options for further dynamic growth in the coming years.